By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
EDITOR'S NOTE: Over the coming weeks, TopSports.news will recognize hundreds of Shawnee County's all-time greats in 25 sports/categories as part of our Best of the Best project. Readers will have the opportunity to vote through July, with the Top 25 in all categories announced in August. To cast a vote for the Best of the Best, click on: https://linkto.run/p/L5BF2JDD. Email votes/nominations will also be accepted at
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Topeka has long been regarded as a bowling town, producing a long list of women's and men's stars.
And although women's bowling in Topeka might lack the pro starpower of men's bowlers like Chris Barnes and Bob Benoit, there's no shortage of candidates for the distinction of being named the TSN all-time best in Shawnee County history.
Terri Sandgren, Jeannine Wettengel, Natalie Bennett, Maggie (Fritton) Crawford, Paulette Mazur, Jody Ditch and Chelsie Bahr are among a large group of bowlers who have carved out impressive amateur careers while there's also a long list of state champions and contenders since local schools launched high school bowling in 2006.
Kelsey Muther
Kelsey Muther and Rachel Barber were two of the Capital City's early high school stars while city standouts Kristi Renyer, Jessica Thompson, Carly Schmidtlein, Ashton Anderson, Whitney Prockish and Lauren Buchanan all captured state championships and Carla Bortz was a two-time state runner-up.
Whitney Prockish
Makenzie Millard
Current Seaman bowler Makenzie Millard has posted a pair of top-five state finishes and still has a season of high school bowling remaining.
There are 25 candidates listed to pick from at https://linkto.run/p/L5BF2JDD while readers also have the option of writing in a name.
Vote as many times as you wish, with the only requirement that eligible candidates must have grown up in Shawnee County or attended one of the county's 10 high schools.
Final selections will be based on reader vote as well as input from TSN contributors and current and past local sports media professionals.
Votes will be accepted through July 31 before TSN publishes our Best of the Best lists in August.
NEXT UP: Men's bowling.
